


Childhood Traumas

by TheStraggletag



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, crackfic, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 03:40:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8781561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStraggletag/pseuds/TheStraggletag
Summary: Not having been raised by his parents Gideon Gold never learned what the rest of Storybrooke had: always knock before walking in on Mr and Mrs Gold.6x10 crackfic





	

" _Your_ mother!"

"Need I remind you that you entrusted him to that gnat?"

As it dawned on both Rumplestiltskin and Belle what had happened to their baby their natural first instinct was to lash out, no matter how counter-productive it was. They'd kept so much bottled, so much left unsaid. And with the loss of their child it all seemed to break free, at last.

"After what you did to me?"

The breaking point had been the magical bangle. Loving Rumplestiltskin had always been easy, though justifying it to the world hadn't. But the complete certainty on the fact that he valued her freedom and her happiness above all, above his own, had sustained her through much of their shared hardships. To her it had set Rumplestiltskin apart from almost anyone else. So it had hurt deeply to have him turn on her like this. And though the rational part of her understood Rumple was acting out of a primal fear of losing another child, it still shattered her to have him side-step her so completely, dismiss her free-will and regard her as some sort of incubator for his child, whom he needed to keep close.

The sped-up pregnancy hurt above all because it seemed to her like a confirmation that his love for her was over. That it hadn't been as strong as his need for power and he'd willingly forfeited it.

"Belle, I swear..." Rumple's face was a strange mixture of contained anger and raw, pleading honesty. "I didn't dose you with that magic. I couldn't."

She wanted to dismiss those words. God, she wanted it so much. But in his most naked form Rumplestiltskin was a rotten liar who could not even fool himself. And he was naked then, raw and open and completely undone. And she hated how much honest it forced her to be in return. He hadn't dosed her tea. Confronted with the possibility of losing her love he'd stopped. Nothing stopped the Dark One, not really. Only Baelfire had ever had that power. And her, apparently.

"But it didn't stop you from restricting my freedom or trying to alter the destiny of our unborn child."

"Altering his destiny seems like a fucking great idea right about fucking now, Belle! He's my son. He had the deck stacked against him from day one. I... I wanted to change that. Because no matter what I did eventually something awful would have happened to him. Just like it did Bae. And he would have hated me for it, with reason."

It was heart-breaking to say it out loud, but strangely liberating. He hadn't wanted to burden Belle with this fear, at first. It had been enough with telling her the Lord of the Underworld had a claim on their unborn child, never mind pointing out the child's chances at happiness were slim. It was the curse of the family; one he could not trace back to magic but that existed all the same. He'd sensed it vaguely with his sight, this nebulous aura of dread, of darkness, but he'd never thought it would come down to his mother. He'd rather suspected his child was fated to suffer at the hands of one of the many enemies he'd made as the Dark One and that, as a result, the lad resented him. So the shears had seemed like the way to go.

Why he hadn't told Belle all that he didn't know. Probably because he'd thought it wouldn't matter, not to a mother. It hadn't mattered with the contract, after all, the fact that he'd signed it to save his Baelfire. And she'd certainly jumped at the chance to point an accusatory finger at him the moment some apparition in her dream had given her reason to. That had stung.

"This was not the destiny you wanted to erase! This is not what was supposed to happen!"

"You think not? You think that my mother just happened upon the Blue Fairy and my child? You think she didn't plan this? That she hasn't been planning this for a long time?"

"Don't say that!" She looked like he'd physically struck him and as much as he relished letting the truth out the image of her recoiling from him made bile rise on the back of his throat. "My son told me the only way was to send him away. And all your schemes and manipulations only confirmed it."

It was, in retrospective, a sick sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.

"And how convenient that all his prodding led us here. My mother dwells in realms of magic beyond even my reach, a place of immense dark power where time runs differently. For all we know that's where our son's dream self came from. It was all a ruse and you-" He closed his eyes, forcing himself to be completely honest. "we fell for it. You pushed me away and I acted like a beast. We played right into her hands."

It seemed cruel that a mother who had abandoned him at birth would know how to move him around like a pawn in a chessboard. At least his father had stuck around long enough to form a basis for his hold on him. His mother, it seemed, was simply a natural.

"We have to get him back. My baby. Rumple, I want my baby back. Please."

He caught her when she fell against him, hands twisted on the lapels of his coat and tugging him close. She was still angry, still tense, but she didn't wish to direct any of that anger at him anymore so it hovered around her like a dark cloud. His own darkness responded to it, rising up to embrace it as his own hands pushed her close, seeking comfort. It was exhilarating to be so close to her again, to press kisses into her hair and tell her they'd work together, would get their son back. He reassured her over and over, even as she took his coat off and the tip of her nose caressed the side of his neck. It wasn't exactly healthy, or altogether smart, but it'd snap them out of their grief-soaked stupor and into action. A way to let out steam and find buried beneath it all whatever glimmer of hope still remained. True Love was the most powerful magic of all, and whatever they had done to each other, whatever he had done to her, mainly, it hadn't died out.

"We'll get him back, sweetheart. Our beautiful, brave boy. Brave as his mama."

Somehow he'd managed to get her coat off. His hands remembered her well, following well-travelled paths across her curves, seeking out her favourite places.

"Strong as his papa."

It sent a sinful thrill down his back to hear Belle call him that, acknowledge his paternity in such a way. And to call him strong, when she knew it was a trait he'd struggled to associate with himself. A trait he thought he could only get from his magic. As if commanded by her he hauled her up, hands grabbing her arse and hoisting her half-clothed body up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist and press against his hardened cock. Blissfully she kissed him, attacked him rather, and though it was as far from their first, tentative kiss as possible, it was perfect. They were past the sweetness and the purity, past the platitudes and the well-wishes. They were broken and jagged and sometimes even ugly, but also real. Intoxicatingly real.

"We're gonna get him back... Our little Gideon" Belle sighed against his ear as he backed her up against a curio and thrust against her, anger and desperation warring with the elation of learning his son's name.

"Yes we are."

She bit his neck and he howled in response, melting as she grabbed him by his hair, asserting her dominance. It felt incredible to be back under her thrall, worthy of her attention and loving control. It had never made him feel weak to be so owned by Belle during sex but rather special and cherished.

"And we'll _deal_ with your mother."

The way she said it, with a hint of venom coating her words, almost sent him over the edge.

"Yes, Belle, _yes_..."

The antiques safely stored inside the curios rattled as she managed to get his pants unbuttoned and down, grasping his cock and guiding it inside her, and he thrusted inside her, his groan of relief matching hers. Their joining always made him feel invincible in a way that went beyond his powers and his magic, and by the way she smiled triumphantly it had the same effect on her. Their love-making was deliciously all-consuming, making them oblivious to the world outside of them, the chill in the air, the wind howling in the street, the sound of the front door of the pawnshop as it opened.

"Hello mother, hello... oh my God, seriously?!"

They both froze, turning almost in unison to stare at the hooded figure a few feet away from them. Their son was taller than Rumple remembered, though at the moment he was hunched over, using the overly-long sleeves of his hood to cover his eyes. It felt good, in spite of how things had gone down back at the temple of Morpheus, to look at him. It took Belle pushing against him for him to realise he was still inside her and that their son was making faint gagging noises.

"I'm gonna be sick."

It was the work of a moment to wave his hand and have them both presentable again, at which point Belle rushed over and took their child in her arms, smoothing his hair back as he retched. Tentatively he stepped closer and drew soothing circles against his son's back, remembering it had worked miracles on Baelfire.

"Gideon, honey, what is it?"

"Teleportation sickness, it looks like." Rumple was vaguely familiar with it, recognising the symptoms from when he first became the Dark One. "It'll pass; he just needs a minute."

"Oh, my poor darling."

Their son might be tall and strong but he curled helplessly into his mother's arms for a minute before remembering himself and scrambling back.

"No, wait, this is now how it's supposed to go. I was going to make an entrance. And give a speech. And you're supposed to hate each other. The Black Fairy told me. It's why you sent me away."

He looked angry, but also confused. And vaguely nauseated.

"What did she tell you exactly?"

It was hard to keep his voice soothing but Rumplestiltskin tried. Clearly unsettled by the... scene he'd walked into the boy had been derailed from whatever he'd come to do. They needed to keep him talking.

"You're the Dark One and manipulated my mother into marriage only to toss her aside for power."

The Black Fairy had told him all about the Dark One, and his ruthlessness. She'd told me of his love for his one true son, Baelfire, and how he'd moved the stars to be reunited with him. As a child Gideon had often lay awake at night, waiting for the Dark One to come for his second child. It had not happened and that's how he'd known he was unloved.

"What about me?"

His mother's voice was as sweet as he'd dreamed, and her eyes full of love. But it wouldn't have been like that, as the Black Fairy told him, if he had stayed with her. She'd have grown to fear his powers and keep him from his destiny. In the end coaxing her to send him away had been the best for both. His mother could never fully love a magical being, not after what magic had done to her.

The horrifying scene he'd walked in on, however, sort of negated that whole last statement. In vivid technicolour. 

God, he was going to be sick again.

"You keep me from my potential. I grow up scared of my power, scared of you not loving me because of it. That's why I had to convince you to let me go. It was necessary."

"I'd never...! Gideon, sweetheart..."

Watching his mother's eyes well with tears was harder than he thought it'd be. He'd been so sure when he'd prepared to come to Storybrooke. So sure of so many things. But his mother's pitiful attempts not to cry made him strangely anxious and tentative. And his father... he didn't look like the all-powerful Dark One he'd imagined. He was short and his eyes were all huge and watery and shone when he looked at him. As if he cared. As if he...

No. That wasn't possible.

"Come, son, sit down. I have some lemonade in the back room. It'll settle your stomach."

He opened his mouth to refuse but in the blink of an eye his mother was ushering him further into the shop like he was a lost little lamb. He ended up sitting down with both his parents rubbing his back and a glass of lemonade in his hands. Feeling completely and utterly lost he took a sip, pleased to find out the lemonade had heaps of sugar in it, just how he liked it.

"It's how I drink it."

His father was looking at him with a strange mixture of pride and awe and it surprised Gideon to find out he cared. And suddenly in that tiny room, sitting next to his mother and father while they looked at him like they wanted to commit every detail of him to memory what the Black Fairy had taught him did not seem as certain as it had before.

"I... I think we need to talk."


End file.
